It's a long time since I posted but here finally is a video of the Freia docking on a linkspan.
The creation is very simple. A tiny magnet attached to the underside of the linkspan attaches to a similar magnet on the bow and the stern of the ship. Ship approaches and the linkspan automatically attaches. Even the rails line up! I tried a magnet on the side of the ship to attach it to the dock also but the Freia couldn't pull away. Instead I use a guide bar which you can see in the video, but which will be painted black eventually when the dock is completed. The linkspan is enough to hold the boat in dock until you want to sail away.
So if you watch the video through you can see both forward and backwards approaches on to the linkspan. No bow thrusters used - everything depends on twin props. It was a rather blustery day and the ship gets blown about a bit! Now to populate the dock with buildings and paint it. Others in our club have produced some fantastic docks which we can set up on sailing days.
Enjoy the link to video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/vYoDCbTPyuY